Stranded
by HopelessWish
Summary: Set just after Starship. The crew gets stranded on a foreign planet, and has to find a way to survive until rescue. MiniFic. This summary really sucks, but give it a shot. Please? I put it as a TUp FanFic, but it has the rest of the characters too. Please read my update. It concerns all of you. I need opinions... (Author previously named LyssaKay)
1. Chapter 1

****I decided to write something other than Where We Belong, and my wonderful friend DaisyDoodle suggested doing something like this. So thank you and I hope the rest of you like it. By the way, in this Fanfic, they aren't on a big starship; instead it's just the crew from the musical in a smaller ship.**

** Well, I own absolutely no character in this story… that's kind of depressing.**

"February, for de last fucking time, I do not want a makeover, and if jou come any closer I swear to Dead-God I will fucking kill jou." Taz spat angrily at the blonde science officer. The crew was on their way back from BugPlanet, and Taz was pissed to say the least. So, the rest of the crew was going about their business and staying out of hers. Tootsie and Megagirl were sitting together on the two chairs nearest the door to the hallway. He was telling her something about FarmPlanet, and she was listening intently. Specs and Krayonder were sitting in two of the three chairs on the opposite wall, and they were having a discussion on who would win if Chuck Norris and Taz got in a fight. Specs said Taz, and gave a long scientific explanation why, and Krayonder finally agreed. Bug was back in his new room, still amazed by everything on the starship. And Up, well Up was stealing glances at Taz as he sat in the Pilot's chair of the small pod they were in. Also at the moment, he was debating whether or not Taz was actually going to go through with her threat...

"Taz, I advise you to get your ass over here, sit down, and not kill February. I really don't want to have to fill out all the paperwork for a dead science officer." He called to his petite lieutenant, who glared at him. But, to no one's surprise she came and did what she was told. She continued to glare at him, and he sighed and raised his hands in surrender. Taz then flipped him off and he gave her the puppy-dog eyes that he knew she couldn't resist. It worked and she stifled a small giggle as he grinned in triumph. The pair sat next to each other in comfortable silence; Up still stealing glances at Taz, and quickly dropping his gaze whenever she caught him.

This went on for about five minutes when February abruptly got up and called out to Taz, "Taz. Hallway. Now." Taz turned and glared at the blond, hoping she would back down. "Now Taz, this is important." The science officer repeated.

"February, I swear to Dead-God; if jou try to give me a makeover jou will not be leaving dat hallway. Ever." Taz growled. The science officer just rolled her eyes, unlike the rest of the crew, she obviously didn't think Taz was serious.

"No silly, we're just gonna talk" she said brightly, grabbing her lieutenant's wrist and pulling her out the door. Up couldn't help but laugh at Taz's expression, especially as she mouthed the words 'help me', 'no way' he mouthed back. He just grinned as she glared and mouthed out 'fuck jou', before the door closed behind her.

~oooO0Oooo~

"OMDG, what is going on with you and Up?" February asked Taz excitedly. The blonde was always looking for new information about the lives of her crew-mates.

"What de fuck are jou talking about?" Taz spat back, trying to sound pissed although she was genuinely curious. She hadn't noticed anything different going on lately.

"Oh come on Tazzy, you haven't noticed anything?" The science officer asked, incredulous. "You're telling me that you didn't notice the way he was always trying to be with you down on bug planet? You're saying you haven't noticed him staring at you? How could you not notice, especially with someone as gorgeous as Up? If I didn't already have Buggy, then he would so be mine by now." She continued, and now Taz was actually starting to get pissed. There was no way in hell that she would let February get with Up, it was just… wrong, in every way possible.

"Listen to me jou idiota; I've got three things to say to dat. Uno, I'm his lieutenant; it makes sense for us to be close to each other during a mission. Dos: No, I didn't notice him staring at me. And tres, what de fuck?"

"Oh yeah right, like you don't think he's absolutely perfect." February scoffed, rolling her eyes at the little Mexican. "Really Tazzy, you have to admit that he's amazing, right?"

"Urgh if I tell jou that sí, he's amazing; and sí, he's perfect, will jou shut de hell up and let me go back?" Taz said with a loud sigh. She didn't give the girl a chance to respond before wheeling around and striding back to the door. She took a few deep breaths, and tried not to think about what February had said, then stepped back in and sat back down in the co-pilot's seat.

"Mind telling me what you and February were talking about?" a familiar southern drawl asked quietly.

"She thinks dat something's going on between jou and me, and I told her to shut de hell up because there's not." Taz whispered back. Her accent was always heavier when she whispered and Up tried not to be distracted by it. Some people found her accent hard to understand, but Up loved it, it just was so… Taz.

"Oh great, now the rumors will start up again."

"Sí", she said with a sigh, and started slowly spinning in her chair; lost in thought. Suddenly there was a loud rumble throughout the ship, and the monitor started beeping. "Up?"

"Um, I don't know what that was, give me a sec." He replied, looking around at the crew. All eyes were trained on him. Pressing a few buttons on the monitor, he soon found what the problem was; one of the 3 engines had shut down. "Alright, we lost one of the engines. Specs can you go try to fix it?" he asked the red-headed engineer.

"Not on my own." She replied and Krayonder's face brightened.

"Alright… Taz, you know some stuff about the workings of a starship. How about you accompany Specs?" He said, and tried to ignore the glares that both Taz and Krayonder shot his way. Eventually, after much grumbling, Taz left with Specs and they made their way down the hallway. Stopping at Spec's room along the way to grab some tools, they finally came to the door of the engine room.

"let me go first, one of those damn bugs might have gotten in here and killed de engine" Taz said, secretly hoping that was the case, she never got tired of shooting her zapper.

"Yes lieutenant." Specs replied loudly in her slightly nasally voice. Taz groaned, this girl would be awful in combat, she talked too loud. After quietly opening the door, Taz stepped in, sweeping her zapper all over the room. Finding nothing she disappointedly called to Specs that it was safe.

"Are jou done yet?"

"5 minutes"

"Jou said dat 5 minutes ago!"

"No I"

"I counted Specs!"

The two had been in the engine room for about a half hour and Taz was bored out of her mind. She might know some stuff about how a starship works, but that didn't mean it didn't bore her to death. So far from what she could gather, Specs couldn't figure out what was wrong. She had poked and prodded just about every nook and cranny in the damn thing and she had nothing to show for it. Finally she just gave up and gathered her tools. Walking over to where Taz was, she saw that she had fallen asleep. No wonder she had been so quiet, Specs thought as she gently shook the girl… and immediately regretted it. Taz jumped up and in one quick movement had her knife out of her boot and up against Specs' throat.

"Specs!" she exclaimed, seeming both surprised and relieved. Taz quickly removed the knife from Specs' throat and sheathed it in her boot again.

"I'm done now, we can go" Specs said, rubbing her neck tenderly.

Taz looked sheepish as she nodded. "Did jou fix it?"

Specs just shook her head and started walking.

~oooO0Oooo~

The pair had just left Specs room after she had put her tools away when they heard another loud rumble. "Fuck" Specs muttered under her breath. Only seconds after, they both felt the ship veer sharply to the right. Specs let out a small scream and Taz muttered out some obscenity in Spanish. While sprinting back to the control room; they passed a very confused Bug coming out of February's room. Seeing them, he starting running too. After a few moments the three burst into the control room, Specs and Bug breathing hard.

"Up?" Taz asked in a slightly scared voice, it was only one word, but he understood completely. After all, Up was the only one who knew of Taz's hatred/fear of flying. That was why she was always so irritable when they were on an undocked Starship, or in a drop-pod.

"Taz, I think we lost a second engine." He said slowly, trying to gage her reaction before continuing. He saw her inaudibly gulp and went on, "I'm no engineer, but I don't think we can fly very well with only one engine." As he finished he saw Specs and Krayonder shake their heads grimly. Almost immediately after the power went off with a loud *click* and the Starship groaned and veered to the right even more. He heard two screams, a "meirda", three gasps and a whirring noise from Megagirl as he desperately tried to right the ship… it didn't work. The warning lights in the room came on and a loud alarm sounded. In the red light he could see the terrified faces of his crew. Specs had her head buried in Krayonder's shirt and he was hanging onto the doorframe with one hand and her with the other. Tootsie and Megagirl were holding hands and he had a very confused look on his face. Bug and February were sitting on one of the couches, she was sobbing and he was awkwardly trying to comfort her. But what hurt him the most was Taz, she was standing unmoving in the center of the room, her face a mixture of terror and fury.

"Up, de ship's crashing?" she muttered in disbelief. He simply nodded, before turning back to the controls. He was pressing almost every button in turn, anything that might make the ship stop. Up was aware of a pair of combat boots walking towards the co-pilot's chair. He spared a glance over at her and her gaze met his. The terrified look that had filled her eyes only moments before was now gone, replaced with a look of determination. She nodded once and began fiddling with the knobs and buttons while up tried desperately to pull the starship out of its nosedive.

After about a minute of this, Up sighed. "Taz, it's not gonna work." He said sadly.

"It has to work!" Taz replied, more determined than ever. She frantically began pushing just about every button she could reach and turning every knob in sight. There was a new desperate look in her eyes that scared Up. He'd only seen it one other time: at her quinceañera when he'd seen her trying to take out three robots even as they hoisted her into a tree.

He swiftly grabbed both of Taz's wrists and held them together. "Taz, look at me. It's not going to work." Up spoke slowly, putting an emphasis on every word. She looked up at him and he once again saw terror in her deep chocolate eyes. "I know Up, I know." She said with a sigh. Before he could respond, or do anything really, there was a loud groan and the ship hit the ground. Hard.

****Alright, There was the first chapter of Stranded. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think.**

** ~LyssaKay 3**


	2. Chapter 2

** Let me just start out by saying I'm sorry for such a long wait. I've been busy, but that's no excuse for this. I got this chapter typed and then realized I'd switched to first person P.O.V. about halfway through the first section, so I apologize in advance for any mistake I forgot to correct.**

** Can I just say I own them? No? Fine, I don't own them.**

Taz pushed herself up from the ground dazed and more than a little confused. "Where am I, and what de hell just happened?" she wondered aloud. Looking around she saw a large piece of twisted metal on the ground a few feet away from her. And then it all came back: Up holding both of her wrists, explaining that it was useless, and then the impact. The starship had actually crashed, and now they were stranded. For the first time she noticed that she had been lying on a beach, and a really soft and sandy one at that. It reminded her of the beaches in Mexico. Redirecting her thoughts away from her old life, she decided that since she was conscious, the air must be breathable. It was quite obvious though that this was no earth. This was made apparent with the fact that what she could only assume was an ocean, was a vivid… purple? Thinking maybe her eyesight wasn't right; she rubbed her eyes and looked again. Yep, still purple. This was a weird planet.

Taking another look around, she saw a grey lump on the ground. Taz scrambled to her feet, ignoring a major head-rush, and darted over to the lump. "Up, Up can jou hear me?" she asked frantically, trying to roll over an unconscious Up.

He opened his eyes, squinting in the sunlight. "Taz, what the hell happened?" he asked groggily, before seeming to become lost in his own thoughts.

"We crashed. And I don't know where we are. Or where Specs is, or Tootsie, or Krayonder, or Megagirl, or Bug, or February. Up, where are we?" She asked him, and then sat back on her heels; running a hand through her hair. Her bandana came off when she did, and she noticed a large, damp, even redder stain on it. "Up, am I bleeding?" she asked him, only slightly concerned.

That snapped him out of his little trance. "What? Shit, yeah you're bleeding. Give me your bandana." Up said, taking Taz's bandana and wiping above her left eye. It stung like hell, and she could tell it was probably pretty deep.

"Ouch, Up, jou're getting sand into it." Taz grumbled, and he stopped. Glancing over towards the purple ocean, he stood up. "No way, I am not putting purple water on my face. Dat shit might be toxic!" She yelled at him, as he jogged to the edge of the water. Stooping down, he cupped both hands and dipped them in the water. He brought his hands to his mouth, and took a sip. Coughing and spluttering, Up spit it out and dumped the rest on the sand. Noting that the sand turned blue when Up dumped the water on it, I turned to him. "I told jou, now what am I going to do if jou die? Den I'd be all alone and I'd have to deal with jour dead fat ass." Taz called out overdramatically.

"Relax Taz; I don't think it's toxic. It' just really salty, we'll have to find another place to get drinking water from." He said disappointed, and for the first time Taz realized how thirsty she was. "But…" he continued, "salt is good for wounds." With that, Up dunked the bandana in the water and started jogging back.

"No. No, Up, get de hell away. Salt burns when jou get it in a cut!" Taz screamed, trying to scramble backwards.

He just chuckled. "Wow Taz, I never knew that a tough son-of-a-bitch like you would be terrified of a little salt."

Using the second it took for her to come up with a reply, Up grabbed both of her wrists with one hand and using the other, put the bandana over the cut. Glaring at him, she waited for it to start hurting, and was taken aback when it didn't. In fact, it took all the pain out of it. "Up, dis water has something special about it. My cut doesn't hurt anymore; in fact it feels a lot better." She said in disbelief.

He took the bandana away and stared, his expression mirroring hers. "Taz, it's not bleeding anymore either, actually, it's barely there."

_The oceans are purple, and apparently they have some sort of freaky healing powers. Oh yeah, and the sand turns blue when the ocean water touches it._ Taz made a mental list in her head of all the freaky shit on this planet. "Dis is a freaky ass planet." She said and Up nodded, fighting back a chuckle. _Leave it to Up to find something to laugh about at a time like this. _Taz thought to herself. "Do jou know where de rest of the crew is?" This time he soberly shook his head.

"Come on Taz, ya up for some adventure? Let's go find them." He said brightly, but Taz could hear the authority in his voice as well. So with that she stood up, ignoring another head-rush and followed Up down the beach.

~oooO0Oooo~

Tootsie squinted in the sunlight as he opened his eyes. Taking in his surroundings, he found that he was in some sort of a jungle. Well, there was a jungle around him; he was in the middle of a clearing in it. There was nothing on Farm planet like this. The sunlight was coming from what looked to be a beach of some sort a few hundred yards off where the trees thinned. Trying and failing to remember what happened, Tootsie noticed Megagirl was nowhere to be seen. "Megagirl?" He called out, letting out a gasp when he saw her leaned up against a tree nearby. "Megagirl? Megagirl can you hear me?" Tootsie called frantically as he rushed over to her. He shook her gently and she let out a weird whirring noise. "Damn, this is even worse than when that horse ate my cousin." He muttered to no one in particular. "How am I supposed to fix her…"

After rummaging through his memory for about ten minutes on how to fix a Megagirl unit, Tootsie stood up. Scooping up Megagirl in his arms, he started walking in the direction of the sunlight. He had decided that the only way he was going to be able to fix her would be to get her to one of the others.

~oooO0Oooo~

February and Bug awoke at the same time. While pushing herself up, February noticed a sharp pain in her arm. "Buggy, where are we?" she asked, cradling her left arm gingerly. "Ow, my arm hurts."

"I don't have a clue, and let me see." He replied, gently taking it in his claws. After looking at it for a few seconds he asked, "Uh Febs, is there supposed to be a big bump here?" pointing to a place about halfway between her wrist and elbow.

She shrieked, paled, and screamed out "Ew, No!"

He saw a few tears making their way down her cheek, and brushed them away. "Come on, we've got to get back to Commander Up and the rest of the crew." He said, gently pulling her to her feet. "When we get there, we can have someone take a closer look at your arm." She sniffled and shook her head. Sighing, Bug walked a ways down to a sandy beach and saw boot prints in the sand. One smaller set, the toe of the shoe had dragged in the sand lightly as if the boot was too big for the foot it was on. The larger set was a little unevenly spaced, like the person was walking with a slight limp. "Hey, Feb, you got to get over here, I found boot prints!" he called to her.

She quickly got up and walked over to him. "Those are Taz and Up's boot prints!" she exclaimed happily. "That means they're here too! And they were right here just a little while ago!" February started following the footprints. After catching up with her, he wrapped one "arm" around her waist and they settled into an easy silence.

~oooO0Oooo~

Krayonder opened his eyes with his face in dirt, or at least he hoped it was just dirt. Rubbing the dust and dirt off his face, he stood up. Looking around, he saw the remains of one of the chairs from the starship. This brought back all the memories from the past few… moments, hours, days? He wasn't quite sure. Then his thoughts immediately turned to Specs; where was she, was she okay, was she alive? Turning and scanning his surroundings, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw her sitting on a fallen tree. "Specs?" he called and saw her head turn towards him slightly. Krayonder jogged over and sat down next to her. Specs was looking extremely frazzled and kept going over how the crash happened. "Specs man, you're freaking me out, you've been saying the same stuff for like 5 minutes." Krayonder said after listening to her mumbling for a while.

She stopped and looked over at him. "I know, but how did this happen? The starship passed all the inspections right before we left the base. It was all up to code, I just don't understand. And why couldn't I fix that engine, I've done it a million times before." She said with an exasperated look.

"Specs, I don't know. But sometimes things just happen, and no one can stop them." He responded, pulling a twig out of her curly red hair. Specs blushed and quickly ran both her hands through it, pulling a leaf out in the process. "Have you seen anyone else?" Krayonder asked, trying not to stare. She looked really cute right then, all flustered and blushing. She shook her head sadly. "Well they gotta be here somewhere man" He said determinedly, and Specs simply nodded.

"We would be better off in a group" Specs agreed.

"That's the spirit! Come on; let's go find the rest of them" Krayonder said enthusiastically, turning and walking towards a trail of debris that had at one time been part of the starship. Specs followed, ignoring the fact that they would be found faster if they stayed put. _Oh well_ she thought to herself, _at least I'll have a chance to talk with Krayonder some more._

**Well, there it was, Chapter two of Stranded. I'm planning on having about three more chapters before this I'm done. Please leave me a review and tell me how you like this so far! **

**Till next time, LyssaKay **


	3. Chapter 3

*****Hello there lovelies! I'm back, and here's the next chapter... Finally. If you read my other story (Where We Belong) then you already know my explanation on why I was gone so long, but if not then here it is. I got really busy with other things and then anytime I'd start working on one of my chapters I would just kinda feel like they didn't matter, like no one really cared if I updated or not, but it turns out you lovely people do. So thank you all, for everything!**

Up and Taz had been walking along for a good hour or so, and Taz was starting to lag behind. She had already been somewhat weak from those giant Mosquitos, and then the cut on her forehead hadn't helped any. The footprints that she was leaving were becoming less defined and more of just two semi-parallel lines as her feet began to drag. Tripping over a stone, which the pair were starting to see a lot more of, she muttered a half-hearted "mierda" and continued to trudge along.

"Taz?" asked Up, finally unable to ignore her stumbles anymore.

"¿Que?" She replied, making an attempt to be snappy.

"Do you wanna stop for a while, you're lookin' kinda pale." He told her, an undertone of concern in his voice.

"No, we need to get to higher ground. Maybe then we'll have a signal for our communicators. We need to find the rest of the crew." Muttered Taz, seemingly more to herself than to Up. He left it at that and the pair resumed their trek. Taz seemed to be more careful over the terrain now since she knew Up was watching her, but before long she began to stumble once more. Up decided that he wasn't going to say anything for fear of making her pissed; even when wounded, a pissed Taz could still inflict quite an injury.

_Right foot, left foot, shit, ow, rock, alright then, left, right, one foot in front of the other, just get to higher ground. _Taz was silently repeating to herself. Just keep going to the cliffs ahead. _Holy shit! This actually happened, we really crashed... Where the hell is the rest of the crew? They couldn't have been too far away, we were all in the same room. Ok Taz, priorities. First we've got to get to higher ground, then we make some sort of shelter and wait for the crew, hopefully we'll be able to see them, and then only after we're all back together, then you can get some rest. Those damn mosquitoes I should've-_

Taz let out a gasp, and Up wheeled around to look at the sight before him. The little lieutenant was sitting in the rocky sand, cursing softly and wiping at a fresh cut across the palm of her hand. Up rolled his eyes at the almost comical sight, and heaved a sigh. "Come on Taz, at this rate it'll be another couple of hours till we reach the cliffs. I know you and I also know you won't last that long without passin' out, so hop on my back and I'll carry you a ways." He pleaded with her, hoping she wouldn't argue. Luck must have been on his side, because she just held out her hand. Up grabbed it and easily hoisted her onto her feet, where she proceeded to scramble onto his back. Up continued walking and reveled in the feel of Taz's arms wrapped snugly around him.

"Gracias Up." She said, already starting to drift towards sleep.

"Anytime Taz."

Up continued walking, and as he let his thoughts wander, he decided he wasn't entirely mad that the starship crashed. He'd take any chance he got to be with Taz. Feeling her grip loosen, Up easily yet carefully shifted Taz around and settled her into his strong arms. She looked so tiny and innocent when she slept, all her walls were down, something he wished she'd do now and then while she was awake. Of course, _he_ did get to see that Taz sometimes, but not often enough.

~oooO0Oooo~

February and Bug were trudging through the sand in silence, still following the trail of boot prints, with her still holding her arm, when suddenly Bug gasped. "February! Do you see the figure up ahead too?"

She squinted, and after a few seconds squealed "Oh my Dead-God! Buggy, I think that's Up!"

"But where's Taz?"

They ran a few paces and saw a spot in the sand as if someone fell, and then a single trail of prints went on. "Aw, that's so sweet!" February gushed.

"What are you talking about? What's so sweet?" A very puzzled Bug asked.

"Taz fell, see, that's what the place in the sand is, and then Up helped her up and started carrying her. That's why there's only one set of tracks now. I wonder what she tripped on though... She doesn't usually want help with anything... Then again she was with Up and they totes like each other." She could have gone on forever, but Bug interrupted her.

"That's great Febs, but now we kinda need to get up to them. You know, that way they can take a look at your arm."

"Ok." February replied somewhat dejectedly. "My arm does really hurt still." They began running again, a new spring in their steps knowing that at least their commander was alright, and probably their lieutenant. After about 200 meters, they decided that it didn't seem to have made a difference, if anything it almost seemed like he was further away. "Ugh, how did that happen? I figured we'd be so much closer." said February between gasps, her long legs taking smooth graceful strides.

"I don't know, Febs." Bug replied, his bug legs carrying him in a strange jolting, jittery way.

"Hey, Commander!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, not really thinking he'd hear her. Up turned around and in disbelief, February stumbled and fell, Bug coming crashing down on top of her. "Oomph, ow! Bug, you're on my arm!"

"Sorry Feb, I wasn't expecting you to fall."

"Here, need a hand?" Asked Up as he gently set Taz on the sand, causing both February and Bug to jump.

"Uh sure, thanks commander. But weren't you just like a long ways away?" February questioned as she held out her good hand.

Up just shrugged, "There are some perks of being half robot I guess."

Effortlessly pulling February onto her feet, she couldn't help but stare at his seemingly perfect body. I mean, yeah she had Bug, but Up was the definition of hot. Well, except for the grey hair maybe.

"What'd ya do to your arm?" He asked, breaking her out of her probably not so good thoughts.

"We think it's broken Commander." Bug told him, and February held out her arm gingerly.

"Yup, that is definitely not normal. Hold on, let me wake up Taz, she's the one that's good with the medical stuff." Replied Up, looking over at his lieutenant's sleeping form. He crouched down next to her and began to gently shake her shoulder.

"Oh hell no! That chick has had it out for me since the day we met! Taz'd purposely make it even more messed up!" Shrieked the science officer, starting to back away.

"Okay, maybe you two don't get along too well, but Taz knows when she needs to-" Up was cut off by the little Hispanic.

"What the fuck is February screaming about now?" Grumbled Taz, squinting from the light of the setting sun. "Shit. Up, why did jou let me go to sleep?"

"We all think February's arm is broken, and she doesn't want you to touch it for fear that you'll purposely make it worse. And you were tired Taz, you needed some sleep." Up stated very matter-of-factly.

"February, let me see jour arm."

"No, you're gonna make it worse."

"Jou idiota! If it needs to be reset then jour going to want me to do that as soon as possible."

"February, let Taz see your arm. She knows what she's doing." Up said and when February still shook her head he added. "That was an order."

February gulped and hesitantly showed Taz her arm. After studying it for a moment, she carefully took it and felt along The blonde's forearm until she came to the bump. February gasped and Taz shook her head. "Jour lucky it's not a compound fracture, but it does need to be repositioned. Get ready, I'm telling jou now that this is not going to be pleasant."

Bug took February's good hand and Up stood next to Taz, waiting to be told what to do.

After about a half hour of Taz tugging and pushing on February's arm, and more curses than you could count, Taz rocked back on her heels. "Alright, it's pretty much back to its normal place. Jou'll still need to have a doctor finish fixing it when we get rescued though." Then, taking the bandana off her head, the lieutenant made a makeshift sling around the science officer's arm and tied it.

"Alright guys, since its clear we're not gonna make it to the cliffs before dark, I say we make camp right inside of those trees over there. That way we'll still be protected, but we can also keep an eye out on the beach in case the rest of the crew comes along." Declared Up, finally starting to sound like the commander he was before. Looking at Taz, who gave him a smirk and a salute for approval, Up lead the way to the trees. Taz walked by his side, and he chuckled quietly when he heard her little huff as she blew her choppy hair out of her eyes. Taz kept stooping down and picking up things, but in the ever-deepening darkness Up was unable to tell what they were. He figured it out though when at the very edge of where the beach met the forest she stopped and crouched down. Taz threw down her little bundle of sticks and took out her knife and a piece of flint from her belt.

"Taz what are you doin'?" Up asked her, unable to make out the little piece of flint.

"Cállate, I'm trying to concentrate. Go get me some more sticks... Por favor." She mumbled, striking the flint with her knife and sending a spark flying into the bundle, which flickered for a moment and then died. "Shit." Taz struck the flint again and this time the sticks went up in a rush of flames.

"There's lots of good dead wood in this forest, I walked maybe twenty feet and was able to get all of this." Said Up, dropping a heaping armful of wood at Taz's feet. "Whoa, you really got a good flame goin"

"Jeah, I know." Replied Taz smugly. Suddenly she let out a huge yawn, but tried to cover it with her hand.

"Taz, you're tired, I got it from here. Go get some sleep, and tell Bug and February to do the same."

"Up, I'm not that tired, and we'd be safer with two people awake than with just one." Pleaded Taz, knowing that it was no use.

"Taz, go. Now it's an order."

"Screw jou, Up."

Walking a few feet into the forest, Taz looked around at February and Bug, who were in the middle of a weird cross species make out. "Okay idiotas, that's enough. We're going to try to get an early start tomorrow, so enough with... Whatever the hell jou were just doing, and go to sleep." She ordered, before flopping down on her back and gazing into the treetops. Hearing Bug and February lay down and shift around a couple of times, Taz knew she'd only have to wait until their breathing went into the long even breaths of sleep, before sneaking back out to Up.

****Well, I hope this chapter kind of makes up for my disappearance. I solemnly swear that I won't make you wait this long for an update ever again. But I will have to juggle Where We Belong and this so my updates might not be very regular. Thanks again to all of you that have put up with all my crap. **

** ~LyssaKay 3 **


	4. Chapter 4

****I'm back children! Well, some of you are probably older than me but... Anyways enjoy the next installment of Stranded!**

**Haha, yeah, um, they're definitely ****not**** mine. **

Taz lay on her back, looking up at the treetops and listening to her crew mates' breathing. It was very relaxing, and Taz found herself thinking over the events of the past couple of days. Everything had finally been starting to go right once more; Up was acting tough again, that idiota Junior was gone, and best of all, when they docked at the base, her and Up were going to have a movie night, just like old times. But apparently the universe hated her, so now there she was, laying in a forest on some freaky-ass planet, with her stupid-ass choppy hair falling in her eyes, and even worse, it was starting to get cold. Well, for the rest if the crew it wasn't too bad, as it really had only dropped down into the 50s (Fahrenheit), but to the little Latino who grew up where the nightly lows barely ever dropped past 40, it was cold. Silently, she rose and stalked out of the trees and into the clearing where Up was keeping watch.

"Taz! I figured you'd be asleep an hour ago. What are you doing out here?" Up asked her, his voice low as to not wake February and Bug, or whatever else was lurking in the darkness.

"I got bored, and I couldn't sleep." Replied Taz, squatting in front of the fire to warm herself. "And I got a little cold." She added in a whisper, hoping that maybe he wouldn't hear.

"Cold, you, really? Well, I'm not surprised, you're not used to temperatures like this. And you're wearing a tank top, which is obviously not a smart choice for nights like this." He said with a smirk.

"How in the hell was I suppo-" Taz began, not catching on to the fact that he was joking.

"Hey, easy now Taz, I was just kidding. And since you're apparently out here to stay, come sit down." Up patted the sand beside him, and Taz sat down, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Holy shit Up, jou're like radiating heat." She exclaimed, scooting closer.

"It's only cold to you Taz. Actually it kinda feels good, I never was a fan of hot weather." Up grinned, and draped an arm casually around Taz's petite shoulder. To his surprise, she didn't scoot away, instead she leaned into his warm side. _Well, who knows when we're going to get rescued; but as long as we're still stranded, I might as well make the most of it. _Taz thought to herself, as the pair settled into an easy silence.

~oooO0Oooo~

Krayonder hummed a little tune as he walked, and Specs glanced at him and blushed. The pair had been walking through the forest for a few hours, and now the sun was beginning to set. Of course, neither really minded, they were both just happy to be together. In fact, Krayonder had decided that he'd follow that frazzled little redhead anywhere. Specs had been studying the ranger next to her, and the more she looked, the more she noticed. The way that, suprisingly enough, he looked strong. Not in the way that Up was, where every muscle was clearly visible. But, if you took the time to look, you could see them, he was... toned. She also noticed that he'd glance over at her and then match his step to hers, so that she wouldn't fall behind. So many cute, sweet little things that you'd never notice unless you were looking for them. So there they were, not a foot from each other, and both afraid to admit anything.

"I'm sorry, Krayonder." Specs finally said, breaking the silence with her quiet voice.

He stopped and turned to her, a surprised look on his boyish face. "For what?"

"For not being better company. You probably wish that it was Up or Bug walking next to you... Not me." Specs didn't know why she was telling him this, but she felt certain that's what he was thinking. How boring she was, how clumsy, how awkward.

"Specs, there is no one that I'd rather have next to me than you." He replied softly, the usual joking tone gone from his voice.

"What? Really?" She spluttered in disbelief, her face a bright red.

"Really." Krayonder whispered before cupping her face with his hands and kissing her. Specs felt her face go hot, and was certain it was probably going to burst into flames. Krayonder, the boy she'd had a crush on since they'd been at the academy, was kissing _her_. The dorky girl, the nerd. That was as far as her brain let her get before shutting down. She found herself kissing him back, but he gently pulled away.

She sighed, and met his gaze. His face was as red as hers, and he had a look that was half triumph, and half question. "Okay." Specs breathed, a small smile playing on her lips.

Krayonder's face broke into a grin, and his joking tone came back. "Great place for our first kiss huh? A freaky jungle on a foreign planet."

"Like a storybook." She replied, her small smile now a grin to match his.

"A seriously messed up one." He added with a laugh. "Come on, let's go a ways further before stopping for the night. I'm not tired, are you?"

Specs shook her head. Grabbing her hand, Krayonder began walking, following a seemingly fresh path made by something. Little did they know that Tootsie had gotten his directions turned around while on his way to the sand, and it was his trail that they were now following.

~oooO0Oooo~

Tootsie was currently sitting with his back against a tree, watching Megagirl intently. The robot was lying on her side, still making whirring noises, but they were becoming less frequent. Tootsie didn't know if that was good or bad. He thought he remembered something about how when damaged, Megagirl units slowly shut completely down, in order to prevent further "injury". Oh how he wished he had a better memory, or that he was smarter, or just more capable. Give him a farm tool, or show him a field, and he could tell you everything about it, but here; with the rangers, he felt useless. Not that anyone ever took the time to ask. Deep in thought, Tootsie dozed off to the steady hum of the forest.

He awoke to a series of close-by crashes, and a familiar voice. "Hey, there's a clearing here!" A moment later Krayonder and Specs appeared.

"Hey, guys!" Tootstie called out, exstatic with the knowledge that Specs could fix Megagirl. Specs let out a small scream, and Krayonder gasped, looking around. "Hey, calm down! It's just me." Exclaimed Tootsie, standing up.

"Oh, hey man! Good to see you're alive!" Laughed Krayonder as he walked over and slapped Tootsie's hand. Specs just let out a sigh of relief and ran both hands through her increasingly frizzy hair. "Like, what happened to Megagirl?" Asked Krayonder, gesturing towards the robot on the ground.

Tootsie's face fell, and his eyes went sad. "Specs, you gotta fix her. I woke up on the ground and Megagirl was lying there making these weird noises and stuff. I tried remembering what to do, but I couldn't, and now she's barely even making any noise at all. Fix her Specs, you have to." He was starting to sound like a child begging a parent for something they want.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Megagirl units tend to be pretty easy to fix." Specs told him, crouching down by the robot. She spent a few moments pressing buttons and fiddling with wires before standing back up. "Ok, let's see if that does the trick."

As if on cue, Megagirl stood up and after a few beeping noises spoke. "Please state a command for me to service you."

"Megagirl! You're okay!" Tootsie shouted, running over and embracing her.

"I was never not "okay", I simply shut down due to circuitry malfunctions caused by the crashing of the starship." She replied. Specs and Krayonder rolled their eyes at her smart-ass remark, but Tootsie couldn't care less. He was just happy to have her back.

"Well, not that I'm not happy for you bro, but I think I'm gonna turn in for the night." Krayonder said, flopping down on his back and putting an arm behind his head. Specs just stood there, looking around, until he grabbed her arm and pulled her down next to him. Using his chest as a pillow, they both gazed up into the stars through the break in the trees. For at least this moment, in their worlds, everything was perfect.

**Crap, how did this end up being so short! Sadly, don't expect another update for a while, because ****I ****have ****got ****to**** update Where We Belong. But after that, I'll be back with the next chapter.**

**Love you all,**

** ~LyssaKay**


	5. Please read Guys Important

**Hey guys. I'm alive. Which, for those of you that read Where We Belong, isn't news. But, I have a couple of things that I need all of your opinions on. **

**Number 1: Does anybody read my stories anymore? I got a single review for my final chapter on Where We Belong, so... just wondering.**

**Number 2: Is anybody still reading this story? If so then awesome, you're now my favorite. If not, well... you won't see this...**

_**Number 3: I've gone through a bit of a personality/style/writing style shift recently, and feel like I could make this story into something different. Probably a bit less happy-go-lucky and a bit more dark and serious. If you guys are okay with that. This is where I really need your opinions...**_

**And finally, I just want to say sorry for being so inconsistent with my updates. I could give you a million excuses on why I've been gone, or unmotivated, but I'm not going to. Instead, I just want to say I'm sorry. And that if you guys are still sticking with me, then I WILL update more often, and give you guys some new stories.**

**So... Yeah. Please leave me a review telling me whether you think I should change it to my new writing style, or just give it a final chapter. I really need some honest opinions here. And if there's anything else you want to tell me, hate, criticism, jokes, whatever, go ahead and say that too. I just want to here what's on your minds. **

**Thanks in advance my lovely readers,**

**~HopelessWish**


End file.
